Archive for the 'Cult film' Category

Grindhouse: Planet Terror

Published
by
Chalupa
on January 8, 2009
in Action, Cult film, Horror, Sci-fi, Thriller and Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

This is the first of the Grindhouse films I saw.  If you’re not familiar with what I’m talking about, directors Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino decided to make a couple of B-movie flicks.  The first that I saw, Planet Terror, was directed by Rodriguez and is about a biological outbreak of sorts.

I think the coolest thing about these films is the style.  It looks like something out of the 1970s - the scratchy film, the sound, the commercials, the trailers, etc.  I really wish the fake trailers would be made into real movies.  There are even random bits of the films missing due to a missing reel.  Before this whole digital age, films used to arrive in several reels that were loaded and lined up.  If you’ve seen Fight Club, Tyler Durden talks about the “cigarette mark, ” that little circle in the upper right corner, showing when a new reel has started.  This is something I had never even noticed until it was Tyler brought it to my attention.  Anyways, the style is really cool and the films are shot present day, just in this old style.

Planet Terror is about a military group, I assume rogue, has their hands on some biological weapon.  In a botched sale the chemical is released and starts wrecking havoc on the surronding area.  The only people immune are the soldiers who were trying to buy the weapon in the first place.  They have these gas masks of sorts on and are breathing in some type of antidote.

There is of course a group of heros who are trying to fight off the affected/infected people and these crazed soldiers at the same time.  Being true to the B-genre, there are some nifty little elements like Cherry, played by Rose McGowan, loses her leg and ends up with a stump.  A stump with a machine gun attached.  This proves quite useful later on.  While this film is a bit ridiculous, it’s definitely fun and entertaining.  Liz walked in and said, “gross.”  She happened to catch a couple scenes where the effects of the mysterious chemical was being seen on several townsfolk.

If you’ve seen a Rodriguez or Tarantino film before, you’ll probably recognize a lot of the actors.  This is definitely an ensemble cast effort.  If you get bored in the middle, just stick through to the end.  I’m sure you’ll enjoy it at least a little bit.

Rating: ★★★½☆

Film Geek

Published
by
Chalupa
on February 21, 2008
in Comedy, Cult film and Independent
. 2 Comments

I randomly came across this movie looking for something to watch on my computer while browsing Netflix. This movie is amazing. It’s like an independent, low-budget High Fidelity about movies; minus the narrating and soul searching.

Scotty Pelk is a super-movie-geek who gets fired from his job at a video rental store. He’s a walking encyclopedia of movie knowledge and lacks most social skills. Apparently he bugs the customers when he tries to tell them about movies, directors, actors, etc. I can’t say my movie knowledge comes anywhere close to this guy, but I can say that I’ve thought a lot of similar thoughts…I usually just keep my mouth shut.

One of my favorite parts is when he’s still working at the video store and a guy wants to rent a couple movies. Scotty informs him the versions he picked out aren’t letterbox. Scotty tries to tell the customer he should get the widescreen version in order to see the movie like it was made. The guy responds with, “you mean with the black bars on top and bottom that cut off the movie?” Another hilarious part was when I noticed the picture (shown above) of the Coens where Scotty pasted himself in there.
In High Fidelity fashion there are lots of Top 5 lists throughout the movie. Not so much talked about, but flashed on the screen. Throughout the film you see Scotty always wearing a hat advertising his website - Scottysfilmpage.com. It’s an actual site for the movie. From here you can get to a couple MySpace pages and a lot of what-have-you.

This is a great film for any true movie fan. Yeah it’s geeky, but it’s way better than Napoleon Dynamite in several ways. Definitely not for the kids. Worth a rental. Check it out.

Rating: ★★★★★

Clerks II

Published
by
Chalupa
on August 17, 2006
in Comedy, Cult film, Independent, Racism and Sequel
. 0 Comments

I would like to start this post by saying that I am a huge Kevin Smith fan. I’m not really sure why. I remember when Clerks came out back in ‘94 and seeing commercials on TV for it. It looked so interesting and fascinating. I wasn’t really allowed freedom in choosing every film I wanted to watch back then so I didn’t actually see the movie until almost five years later.

Since then I’ve always been interested in anything Kevin is working on. Much of Kevin Smith’s work is vulgar, crude and offensive (depending on your view points) and many people have asked me why I submit myself to such filth. I’ve never really had a great answer other than, “I just like it.” Kevin often explores controversial topics that many artists are afraid to approach. I once heard Kevin talking about how his brother is gay and has problems watching movies because he has problems connecting to them. The guy always seems to get the girl. Well what about the other people out there in the world?

Homosexuality is just one topic Kevin has tried to present in a humorous manner off and on in many of his films. He is also the creator of Jay and Silent Bob and is in fact, Silent Bob himself. Smith also has this amazing fan base of cult-proportions that is a mystery to many. I think I may know part of the reason for this. Ready? Kevin Smith. That’s it. This guy has charisma. He’s funny, he’s cool, he’s personable, and he seems like the kind of guy that could be your friend. Seriously. This is just an average guy who loves movies, but isn’t stuck up and a little crazy like Quentin Tarantino.

So the movie….I’ve been digressing upon many a rabbit trail here. Clerks II is a continuation of the Dante and Randal story we were first introduced with back in ‘94. Only now they’re 10 years older and still dealing with some of those same issues from a decade ago. Oh, and did I mention the sequel is in color?

Kevin has definitely made a big name for himself in Hollywood, in the comic book world, and in the hearts of many around the world who pine after a persona as cool as one of Smith’s characters. Who wouldn’t want to throw water on an annoying customer like Randall? Who wouldn’t want to have girls fighting over them like Dante? I’m sure a lot of you wish you could say anything and everything on your mind like Jay. Did you know there are heroines as well? There’s Alyssa Jones, Veronica, Caitlin Bree, Rene Mosier, Brandi Svening, Bethany Slone, etc, etc. Oh yeah, and then there was Dogma where Alanis Morissette played the part of God.

So anyways, Clerks II. Originally titled Passion of the Clerks, I assume this was to poke fun at Mel Gibson. This was even back in 2004 so this was way before Gibson decided to torpedo his career with a drunken tirade at police officers. In this latest installment we get to Dante and Randal back at it again. Working together, getting each other into interesting situations and inadvertently terrorizing some of the general public in the process. There is also another return of Jay and Silent Bob and great performances by Rosario Dawson and Trevor Fehrman (new to the Smith films).

I would be lying if I said this movie was clean and unlike his other films. I was definitely shocked in a couple scenes. Once again, as usual, the bar was raised. Interestingly enough, the MPAA gave the film an ‘R’ rating immediately. Usually his films have to be edited to make an ‘R’. The movie is definitely a bit slow in the middle and almost seems to drone on for bit, but there’s a dynamite ending. I’ve heard some critics complaining about the end of the film, but think if you understand the progression of the previous 5 films than it will make complete sense to you too.

I found this movie entertaining and enjoyable. However I would not reccomend this to anyone who is not already a fan of Smith’s previous works. Definitely an acquired taste, it could be hard to fully appreciate jumping to the end of this series without starting at the beginning. A bit like the original Star Wars trilogy in the sense that each film can be watched as a seperate entity, but it really helps to see the full picture.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Published
by
Chalupa
on January 11, 2006
in Adventure, Based on a book, Based on a novel, Comedy, Cult film, End of the world, Future, Narrated, Sci-fi and Space
. 1 Comment

Here’s one sci-fi movie I really didn’t know what to think of before watching it. I heard raving good reviews about from friends of mine that would love it no matter what, and remember hearing nothing but complaints from the media when it came out. Well, I watched it for myself and have to say I enjoyed it, a lot. I haven’t even read the book(s).

One cool thing was spotting Kelly Macdonald, who played a reporter, after just watching Trainspotting with TLoft where she played Diane. There’s tons and tons of recognizable people in this film. That is always cool. A couple people from Love Actually, Mos Def, Zooey Deschanel, Warwick Davis (from Willow and many other films), etc, etc.

If you’re not really into British humor there’s a good chance you might find this one very boring. There’s a lot of randomness and geekiness that most people probably aren’t going to appreciate.

Beautiful Girls

Published
by
Chalupa
on August 25, 2005
in Comedy, Cult film, Drama, Independent and Romance
. 0 Comments

This was one of the movies listed for Natalie Portman, and in my quest to watch them all…I’m now one more closer to that goal. This movie was sort of a romantic comedy with a twist of grown-up-guy-comes-home-and-deals-with-past. He also meets this cool, somewhat grownup teenager next door. I’d have to say this was the very first time I’ve ever heard Rosie O’Donnell go off on a diatribe and actually enjoy it. This movie is probably worth watching just for that.

If you’re looking for something funny, entertaining and not too heavy this might just be the one you’re looking for.